"Hey… careful, you're going to hurt yourself," Michael said, cupping Liliana's hands in his own, a look of panic etched across his face.
Oh, he had fallen far too deep.
It seems the plot is progressing as it should.
Liliana has now set her sights on Michael, and judging by what I just witnessed, she has succeeded.
But...
...this feels a little too fast for the novel's storyline.
Yes, she would do this, but not now.
She should have targeted other nobles first, securing her place among the elites. Then, after the grading exams—before the first arc—that's when she was supposed to shift her attention to Michael.
Sothing's wrong.
Could this be a butterfly effect?
Well, I guess I'll find out eventually.
Right now, we were in Alchemy class. Compared to the crowded Study of Mana lectures, this turnout was almost laughable. There were only about sixty of us here, and the classroom was so large that the professor had asked us to move closer to the front to make things easier.
According to the titable on our ta-watch, Fridays were packed with a variety of subjects. Aside from Alchemy, which I was genuinely interested in, there were options like Beast Taming, Aura studies, Magictech, and more.
According to the novel, the protagonist should be in Aura class right now since he's on the Magic Knight path. As for Shelly, I think it was called Resonance class or sothing like that. Honestly, I have no clue what they even do in that course. Still, it had more students than this class.
But Michael?
Michael was supposed to be in Aura class.
I rember that very clearly.
So, why is he here, doing... that?
"You don't know a damn thing about Alchemy, do you?"
The voice snapped out of my thoughts. I turned to see a blonde-haired young man with sharp red eyes staring straight at .
Well... he wasn't wrong.
What made it even more frustrating was that Nelia still refused to answer my calls after yesterday's incident. And no, I didn't do anything inappropriate. I just made her wear a maid's dress and registered her as my maid in the school admin.
Which... I don't really see a problem in.
She is my slave. Honestly, she should be grateful I called her a maid instead of sothing more deaning.
Anyway, maids are allowed in the Academy. Most of the students here are nobles who don't know how to do basic chores, so the rule makes sense. That said, not all students live in the dorms. The Academy has private lounges for high-ranking students, but those are expensive point-drainers. Many students burn through their points there and end up broke before the next allocation, forcing them back into the standard dorms.
If you're careful, though, you could manage—and the elites usually do.
Well, I digress.
The Alchemy professor had introduced himself and paired us up for an assignnt. Lucky , I got stuck with this loudmouth. Annoying personality aside, this guy was actually one of the brightest Alchemy students in the Academy—second only to Celestina.
Well... "second" was a stretch. She was leagues beyond him. But still, he was one of the few people you could sowhat compare to her.
Speaking of which...
I ignored the idiot's remark and glanced toward the back of the room, where she sat alone. Celestina had refused to pair up with anyone and was, unsurprisingly, fast asleep.
The professor didn't seem to care about her blatant disregard for the assignnt. But then again, Celestina wasn't just anybody. Even at her age, she had made a profound impact on the world of Alchemy.
Celestina Zephyrion.
According to the novel, she was a prodigy. At just eight years old, she created the first-ever forced awakening potion, earning her recognition across both empires. But honestly? I couldn't care less about her accolades.
The real reason she invented that potion wasn't out of so noble pursuit or curiosity—it was because she couldn't awaken herself. So, what did she do? She straight-up created a potion to force it. Talk about determination.
"Hey! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US BOTH, YOU IDIOT! STOP MIXING RANDOM REAGENTS TOGETHER—YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE!"
Gone was his smug grin, replaced with sheer panic as he yelled at . His eyes darted between my hands and the flask I was currently pouring a bright blue potion into.
What did he expect? He said it himself—I don't know jack about alchemy.
Even back on Earth, I was hopeless in high school chemistry. I couldn't make sense of the periodic table if my life depended on it. But that didn't stop from mixing random chemicals together when I felt like it.
"Just worry about your own potion, dumbass," I said, deliberately pouring the rest of the blue liquid in without sparing him a glance. The guy had been getting on my nerves all day, and it was high ti he got a taste of his own dicine.
I reached for a red potion next, letting a single drop fall into my concoction. The liquid began to fu imdiately.
Uh-oh.
This isn't going to explode, is it?
"Wait… stop… no… NO! AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
I turned to see my unfortunate lab partner, Ardyn, flailing as he accidentally knocked his own flask off the worktable. It shattered on the floor, his two hours of effort reduced to a puddle of failure.
… Sohow, I feel like this is my fault.
"Mister Ardyn, if you could kindly not disrupt my class," said the professor, his tone sharp and unimpressed.
Ardyn froze, his face burning with embarrassnt as he noticed the entire class staring at him. He nodded stiffly and shuffled off to fetch new materials, muttering under his breath.
The pairing wasn't ant for teamwork, anyway. Each student was judged on their own potion, but we were still in direct competition with our assigned partners. Maybe that's why Celestina refused to work with anyone—probably thought it was beneath her. The professor didn't push the issue either, which ant he likely agreed.
Guszzzzzzzzzz!
My flask began to bubble violently. The once dark-blue liquid now glowed with a fierce, pulsing red light.
Oh, crap. What the hell did I just make?!
"Huh?"
I glanced up and saw Celestina, who had been asleep monts ago, staring at with wide eyes.
"Mister Ryan," ca the professor's voice, uncomfortably close. He stood right beside , his usual stern gaze now filled with sothing I hadn't expected—surprise.
"Is this what I think it is?" he asked, staring intently at my potion.
"… Uh, yeah?" I replied, my voice uncertain. I had no idea where this was going, but it didn't feel good.
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